Spine Surgery Patient Outcomes

Any time you have surgery, there is a risk of complications. We follow proven standards of care and go to great lengths to reduce the risk of complications. The table below shows how often our patients have had complications after surgery. The first column lists a possible complication. The next column shows what percentage of spine surgery patients at Memorial University Medical Center experienced this complication. The last column shows the benchmark score so you can reference how we compare to similar hospitals around the country. A lower score is better.

*Benchmark is from Premier healthcare alliance database**Benchmark is based on current data in medical literature

Patient Satisfaction ScoresThe scores below are based on responses from a sample of people admitted to Memorial University Medical Center for spine surgery. Patients are asked to rate the care they received using a five-point scale ranging from "very poor" to "very good." The numbers below represent the percentage of people who gave us the highest score possible, also known as the "top box score." In this table, a higher score is better.

Top Box Scores2013 Total

Top Box Scores2014 Jan. to Sept.

Memorial Spine Goal

Overall experience, including factors such as food, quality of the room, etc.

80.4%

61.2%

80%

Friendliness/courtesy of the nurses

85.4%

78.3%

80%

Received information about issues to watch for when discharged

83%

91.2%

80%

Friendliness/courtesy of the physicians

84.1%

73%

80%

Pain was well controlled

84.1%

71.1%

80%

Staff did everything possible to control your pain

82.6%

93.8%

80%

Overall rating of medical care

80.4%

74.7%

80%

Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) The graphs below show how our patients measured their pain or disability before and after surgery. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) has been used for more than 30 years and is considered the “Gold Standard” for measuring disability due to low back pain.

Patients are asked to rate specific factors, including intensity of pain, lifting, ability to care for oneself, ability to walk, ability to sit, sexual function, ability to stand, social life, sleep quality, and ability to travel. We measure patients before surgery (ODI baseline), and 3 months (3M), 6 months (6M), and 1 year (1Y) after surgery. In the tables, “N” refers to the number of patients surveyed. This is how patients rate their ODI:

0% to 20%: Minimal disability

21%-40%: Moderate disability

41%-60%: Severe disability

61%-80%: Crippling back pain

81%-100%: These patients are either bed-bound or have an exaggeration of their symptoms

Neck Disability Index (NDI) The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is a modification of the ODI to measure the amount of disability caused by neck pain. Patients are asked to rate specific factors, including intensity of pain, lifting, ability to care for oneself, reading, headaches, concentration, work, driving, sleep quality, and recreation. We measure patients before surgery (NDI baseline), and 3 months (3M), 6 months (6M), and 1 year (1Y) after surgery. In the tables, “N” refers to the number of patients surveyed. This is how patients score their NDI: